AISP Toolkit Feb25 2025 - Flipbook - Page 17
Is there a fee for data access?
How is data quality evaluated?
How are metadata documented and shared?
How are quantitative data contextualized?
How are 昀椀ndings validated prior to release?
While it can be appealing to make many changes all at once, there is a greater chance of sustained
success when you start small and build over time, with consensus and broad participation. The
following are four simple questions that can be used right now to guide any prospective use of data,
whether you have participatory governance in place or not.
Is this legal?
Is this ethical?
Is this a good idea?
How do we know and who decides?9
Note: Question #1 is the minimum standard and can often be answered by legal counsel. Questions
#2 and #3 require conversation and deliberation. No one can (or should) consider these questions
in isolation. Question #4 indicates whether data governance is in place and how participatory it is in
practice. It is important to note that data governance can and should evolve over time.
Assessing Risk & Benefit
Data collection, access, and use comes with inherent risks and also offers tremendous bene昀椀ts.
One of the primary goals of data governance is to carefully assess the risks and bene昀椀ts of each
particular data use. Ethical and equitable use requires evaluating intended and unintended
consequences and working to mitigate identi昀椀ed harms. While this should be done for each
particular project or analysis you consider, it can also be useful to think about the bene昀椀ts,
limitations, and risks of administrative data use overall.
FOUNDATIONS FOR COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
When considering data collection, access, integration, or use, ask:
Bene昀椀ts
Whole-person, longitudinal view: Using multiple sources allows a holistic view of individual
experiences and outcomes across programs and, potentially, across time.
Whole-family view: Administrative data linkages can enable us to better understand
experiences and outcomes across a family or household unit.
9
See Hawn Nelson, A. & Zanti, S. (2023). Four Questions to Guide Decision-Making for Data Sharing and Integration.
International Journal of Population Data Science.
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